This invention relates to a baler that produces round bales of agricultural stalk material and having at least one stripping device. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,239, a scraper is arranged for one roller. Said scraper comprises a knife blade contacting the surface of the roller. The knife blade is mounted by screws to the edge of a carrier rail which is supported between the housing side walls by means of support plates. The knife blade cannot be adjusted after assembly. My invention provides a baler having a
It is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,879 to have two short knife blades stationary mounted to the housing side walls in cooperation with spiral members on the surface of the roller.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,339 discloses a stripper formed by an L-shaped rail mounted on an edge portion of a separation wall outside the pressing chamber. Said L-shaped rail contacts the surface of the roller. After assembly, no further adjustment of the rail is possible.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,125,948 a dancing cross-bar is provided and guided by suitable arms. Said dancing bar contacts the roller in order to hinder stalk material from wrapping around the roller.
My invention provides a baler having a pressing chamber with variable volume which is confined in a housing by at least one continuous belt. The housing has two opposed housing side walls. the belt is guided by a plurality of cylindrical rollers and there is at least one stripping device associated to one of the rollers. The stripping device consisting of a support containing a rail having a central section and first and second end sections carrying supporting plates, and having a long spring steel knife blade fastened to the support. The supporting plates are pivotally mounted between the housing side walls about an axis lying parallel to the longitudinal axis of the support. The support plates are adjustably connected to an adjusting means for adjustment of their angular position in order to have a contact between the knife plate and the surface of the roller. Thus, the contact pressure of the plate on the roller surface can be made uniform over the longitudinal extension of the knife plate by convex bending of the rail with its knife blade towards the surface of the roller. At least the roller adjacent to the feeding area of stalk material to the pressing chamber needs a stripping device to hinder stalk material from wrapping or winding around the roller. The roller wrapped by stalk material would jeopardize the entire operation of the round bale press.
The rail of the stripping device is bent by approximately 2 to 3 mm convexly towards the surface of the roller. Said roller is provided adjacent to the feeding area of stalk material to the pressing chamber. In this region of the pressing chamber there is permanent danger that stalk material will inadvertently pass the gaps between the belts and will be collected around the surface of the roller. Said bending is transmitted to the knife blade on the rail. By means of pivotal adjusting means of the supporting plates the knife blade is brought into contact with the surface of the roller until the knife blade contacts over its longitudinal extension the roller surface with a uniform contact pressure. However, after this adjustment of the supporting plates, said plates must be firmly pulled against the inner sides of the housing side walls. Because of unavoidable production and assembly tolerances the rail with its knife blade is then straightened by pulling the support plates firmly against the housing side walls so much that its preshaped ending is eliminated and the contact pressure of the knife blade in the central section of the roller is reduced or lost. Stalk material which has passed through the gaps between the belts then presses the knife blade in the central section of the roller away from the surface of the roller and wraps around the roller.
The present invention effectively hinders wrapping or buildup of stalk material on the roller.
According to the present invention there is provided an improved stripping device for preventing harvested stalk material from wrapping around a roller in a round bale press. More specifically there is provided a possibility to adjust the contact pressure between the knife blade and the surface of the roller in order to achieve a uniform contact pressure over the longitudinal extension of the roller surface.
The object of the invention is to provide a stripping device which will effectively prevent stalk material from wrapping around the harvester roller.
A more specific object is to provide a stripping device which easily allows it to adjust and readjust the contact pressure of the knife blade from outside and also after assembly of the round bale press.
A further object is to provide a stripping device which may be easily retrofit onto existing round bale presses.